.The Sole of Liberation
On Sunday, as everyone in the world now knows, a young Iraqi TV reporter named Muntander al-Zaidi took the opportunity of a press conference to throw his shoes at George W. Bush and call the President a "dog." Congratulations, Iraq: You really are a free country.
Yesterday, the New York Times queried dozens of Iraqis from across the country for their views of Mr. Zaidi's act. Reactions ranged from enthusiastic support to the feeling that it was unprofessional for a journalist and no way to treat a guest. One Iraqi feared that the President would take some sort of terrible revenge, but he relaxed after Mr. Bush laughed the incident off. Another, who claimed to have spent five years in Saddam's jails, offered that "the journalist has to throw flowers on Bush, not a shoe, because Bush saved the Iraqi people from a bloody regime."
So everyone has an opinion, and everyone seems prepared to share it (along with their name and city of residence) with a newspaper that somebody in the Iraqi government is likely to read. For its part, the Iraqi government is not amused. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called Mr. Zaidi's stunt a "shameful, savage act" and demanded an apology from the reporter's employers. So far, none has been forthcoming, and Mr. Zaidi potentially faces jail time for harming a visiting dignitary.
Mr. Zaidi works for an anti-American TV outlet, and was known to sign off on his televised reports from "occupied Baghdad." But if Mr. Maliki wants his revenge, he could do no better than to let Mr. Zaidi walk free. As for Mr. Bush's critics, both in the West and the Arab world, they will see one more opportunity to bemoan the folly of Iraq's liberation. We suspect many Iraqis will reflect on what would have been the fate of any journalist who dared to throw his shoes at Saddam Hussein.
WSJ
In this report they have change the word from "insult" to the word "harming". Clearly Bush was not harmed in any physical sense, so I think they are just trying to disguise the language to make the charge more palatable.
They don't think that will work with us, do they?
Yesterday, the New York Times queried dozens of Iraqis from across the country for their views of Mr. Zaidi's act. Reactions ranged from enthusiastic support to the feeling that it was unprofessional for a journalist and no way to treat a guest. One Iraqi feared that the President would take some sort of terrible revenge, but he relaxed after Mr. Bush laughed the incident off. Another, who claimed to have spent five years in Saddam's jails, offered that "the journalist has to throw flowers on Bush, not a shoe, because Bush saved the Iraqi people from a bloody regime."
So everyone has an opinion, and everyone seems prepared to share it (along with their name and city of residence) with a newspaper that somebody in the Iraqi government is likely to read. For its part, the Iraqi government is not amused. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called Mr. Zaidi's stunt a "shameful, savage act" and demanded an apology from the reporter's employers. So far, none has been forthcoming, and Mr. Zaidi potentially faces jail time for harming a visiting dignitary.
Mr. Zaidi works for an anti-American TV outlet, and was known to sign off on his televised reports from "occupied Baghdad." But if Mr. Maliki wants his revenge, he could do no better than to let Mr. Zaidi walk free. As for Mr. Bush's critics, both in the West and the Arab world, they will see one more opportunity to bemoan the folly of Iraq's liberation. We suspect many Iraqis will reflect on what would have been the fate of any journalist who dared to throw his shoes at Saddam Hussein.
WSJ
In this report they have change the word from "insult" to the word "harming". Clearly Bush was not harmed in any physical sense, so I think they are just trying to disguise the language to make the charge more palatable.
They don't think that will work with us, do they?
posted by madtom at 12:27 AM
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